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Laguna Beach

Light Rain

Humidity: 76%

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Fri

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New Little Free Library coming to Fire Station #3, community invited to celebration & potluck on April 5

The community is invited to join together for a community celebration and potluck on April 5 at 5:30 p.m., at Fire Station #3 in the Top of the World neighborhood, in celebration of the new Little Free Library coming to the Laguna Beach Fire Station #3.

Bring your appetite, a dish to share and pull up a chair in the fire station! Wine is also allowed at this event. The fire station will provide tables and chairs.

The Little Free Library Foundation has donated a library box under their Impact Giving Program for installation in front of Laguna Beach Fire Station #3.

The library will serve firefighters, the school community, and neighbors, with the primary goal of raising awareness about nature, wildlife, and our local environment in a time of increasingly dangerous fires and lengthier fire seasons. As with other Little Free Libraries, the fire station’s library will also be stocked with books to entertain as well as inform.

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Firefighters were inspired by Ellen Girardeau Kempler’s Little Free Library, just a few blocks away from Fire Station #3

Because Laguna’s Fire Station #3 was the staging area for the fight against a June 2018 wildfire that threatened and forced evacuation of the Top of the World neighborhood, this is an especially well-timed gift that symbolizes the important partnership between communities and their fire departments in fire preparedness, prevention, and safety.

In keeping with the terms of the gift, neighbor Ellen Girardeau Kempler, who submitted the grant application, will assist helping maintain the library and will organize one community program – a story time or presentation – during the coming year. She will also see that the library is registered on the Little Free Library organization’s map and work with the city to promote the library through photos, news stories, and blog posts.

To help keep the library stocked, firefighters and community members are welcome to replenish it, keeping in mind the objectives outlined above. Ellen will also seek assistance from Transition Laguna and other community groups, including the “book fairies” to help replenish.

Fire Station #3 is located at the corner of Tree Top Lane and Alta Laguna Boulevard in Top of the World.

This is as close as we can come to actually singing to our readers on their birthdays!

Boys & Girls Club of Laguna Beach will host 19th Annual Art of Giving Gala at the Montage

Boys & Girls Club of Laguna Beach is proud to present its 19th Annual Art of Giving Gala, “Under the Sea,” on Saturday, May 11, at Montage Laguna Beach. This is an event you will not want to miss. It is a chance for every female to express her inner Mermaid, and every guy to get just as decked out as the ladies.

Guests will start the evening on the Montage lawn with tasty morsels and signature cocktails. The evening will continue with an elegant dinner and rousing live auction followed by dancing to some live music.

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Photo by Mary Hurlbut

Last year’s derby-themed gala was a major success

The event will raise funds to help the Club reach more young people and to instill integrity, compassion, and respect in them. This promises to be the event of the year, and a chance to generously support the Club and its 4,000 youth and families.

Proceeds raised at the 19th annual Art of Giving Gala go directly towards empowering children of all ages to reach their full potential, no matter their financial situation. So mark your calendars and join the Boys & Girls Club of Laguna Beach for a good time at the 19th Annual Art of Giving Gala.

Laguna’s Next Generation of leaders, business owners, and activists, NextGen, hosted a meet and greet with Laguna Beach City Council members at Seven Degrees on Wednesday.

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Photo by Mary Hurlbut

Over 60 guests and all five council members were in attendance on Wednesday

The event included a no host bar and some food, with the space and food donated by Hasty Honarkar and 4G Ventures.

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Photo by Mary Hurlbut

There are no membership fees to join NextGen, and any Laguna resident is free to join

The event allowed folks to mix and mingle with council members in a casual setting. “It was a good turnout and conversations!” said Stu News photographer Mary Hurlbut.

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Photo by Mary Hurlbut

For more information on Laguna NextGen and its mission to “stay local, get involved,” visit www.lagunanextgen.com

Join Lojo Simon and Jodie Hollander for an “Ekphrastic Writing Workshop” on April 30

Writers of all literary styles and levels of experience are invited to participate in a hands-on workshop exploring and workshopping ekphrastic writing in response to visual arts as part of the Word & Image in Dialogue project curated by Laguna Beach Literary Laureate Lojo Simon.

Simon will co-teach the ekphrastic writing workshop with internationally renowned poet Jodie Hollander, author of the recent poetry collection My Dark Horses. The workshop will be held from 6 - 9 p.m. on Tuesday, April 30, at Sandra Jones Campbell’s art studio. The workshop fee is $25.

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Laguna’s Literary Laureate Lojo Simon

Students will study examples of celebrated poems that respond to or were inspired by art. Then students will be led through a variety of writing activities inspired by the art, ultimately leading to a draft of an original piece of writing. Students will discuss using visual art to generate narrative, as well as the use of vivid imagery and sonics in effective writing.

Simon is a polycreative, playwright, and dramaturge. She is in her third year of writing the annual Young Audience Outreach Tour for Creede Repertory Theatre, which reaches 35,000 students in eight states. Other recent projects include One Foot (Idiom Theatre, Minneapolis Fringe, Salt Lake Fringe), Adoration of Dora (WSC Avant Bard, KOLT Run Creations, Idiom Theatre, KCACTF/ATHE David Mark Cohen National Playwriting Award), Relic (Queens Theatre), and Nice & Slow (Noorda Theatre Center for Children and Youth, soon to be published with YouthPLAYS).

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Internationally renowned poet Jodie Hollander

Hollander’s poems have appeared in journals such as The Poetry Review, PN Review, The Dark Horse, The New Criterion, The Rialto, Verse Daily, The Best Australian Poems of 2011, and The Best Australian Poems of 2015. She is the recipient of a Fulbright Fellowship in South Africa, a National Endowment for the Humanities Grant in Italy, a Hawthornden Fellowship in Scotland, and attended the MacDowell Colony in February of 2015.

Hollander will read from My Dark Horses at Laguna Beach Books on May 1.

Workshop registration opens March 1 here. Space is limited, so writers are encouraged to secure their space early.

Join Laguna Beach Books for a lively discussion of Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner tomorrow, Wednesday, March 20 at 6:30 p.m. The book club meets on the third Wednesday of every month at 6:30 p.m. Everyone is welcome!

“A classic story that is brimming with wisdom,” states Lisa Childers of Laguna Beach Books on Stegner’s Crossing to Safety.

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“Crossing to Safety” is a 1987 semi-autobiographical novel

Wallace Stegner, known as “The Dean of Western Writers,” explores friendship and its many mysteries in the critically acclaimed and popular novel Crossing to Safety.

For more information on Laguna Beach Books, Laguna’s only bookstore, visit www.lagunabeachbooks.com or call (949) 494-4779.

Laguna Beach Books is located at 1200 S Coast Hwy.

Library Events

March

Tues, March 19

Math at the Laguna Beach Library

3:30 – 4:30 p.m.

After the successful Bedtime Math: Crazy 8’s program, the Laguna Beach Library designed a series of fun math activities for kids K-2nd grade.

Wed, March 20

Toddler Techy Story Time with Ms. Niloo

11 – 11:30 a.m.

Stories are important. That’s why the library has combined storytime with technology to introduce Techy Storytime. The program combines iPads, Apple TV, and occasionally the 3D printer to make it fun and educational.

Thurs, March 21

Family Storytime

10:30 a.m. – Noon

Welcome to the Peapod Academy. Join some of the cutest babies, toddlers, and preschoolers in town and adults of their choice at the library. Little peas will enjoy books & storytime, songs & music, fingerplays, movement, hands on activities, arts & crafts, and other cadets. Each week has a different theme. Get to know others and support your little one’s developmental skills. No pre-registration required.

Thurs, March 21

Road Scholar Event

5:30 – 6:30 p.m.

Do you love to travel, learn new things, and meet other people who share a love of adventure? Come learn about the Road Scholar programs! Jill Swaim is a retired educator who has been a road scholar ambassador since 2012.

Sat, March 24

Children’s Craft Open House

9 a.m. – 3 p.m.

Get creative and let your imagination run wild! Children under 12 are encouraged to come to the library during the hours of 9 am to 3 pm to make fun and creative seasonal crafts. Adult supervision is recommended.

Sat, March 23

Techy Storytime

10:30 – 11:30 a.m.

Stories are important. That’s why the library has combined storytime with technology to introduce Techy Storytime. The program combines iPads, Apple TV, and occasionally the 3D printer to make it fun and educational.

Mon, March 25

Third Street Writers Group

10 a.m. – 2 p.m.

Serious writers working on projects (short stories, novels, plays) meet to share feedback and support. This is not a workshop for beginners. Contact the library for additional information.

Tues, March 26ß

Math at the Laguna Beach Library

3:30 – 4:30 p.m.

After the successful Bedtime Math: Crazy 8’s program, the Laguna Beach Library designed a series of fun math activities for kids K-2nd grade.

City of Laguna Beach hosts Community Track Meet March 29

The City of Laguna Beach Community Track Meet will take place at Laguna Beach High School on Friday, March 29, from 5 - 8 p.m.

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Photo by Scott Brashier

Community Track Meet will take place on March 29

The meet is open to boys and girls who reside or attend school within the Laguna Beach Unified School District boundaries and who were born in or after the year 2004. All divisions of competition are determined by age bracket. Participants may enter a maximum of three (3) events.

Qualifying finishers will be eligible to participate in the SCMAF countywide track meet in May.

Laguna Beach Live! is pleased to present two unique and entertaining concerts coming this April and May. The concerts benefit the award-winning Live! Music & Kids program and will be held at [seven-degrees].

The program gives students the opportunity to connect to the joy and creativity of music, critical to their academic, social, and emotional growth.

Laguna Beach Live! presents outreach programs, at no charge, to Laguna Boys & Girls Club and Laguna public schools.

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M-PACT will take the stage on April 17

On April 17, M-PACT, hailed as “one of the best pop-jazz vocal groups in the world” by the San Francisco Chronicle, will take the stage. Imagine the smooth soul of Sam Smith, the percussive power of Stomp, the funk and groove of Bruno Mars, the sophisticated harmonies of Take 6, and the brass bite of the Michael Bublé Big Band…all created by the human voice alone.

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Blues is a Woman plays on May 15

On May 15, Blues is a Woman takes the stage. This ensemble of six talented musicians blurs the boundaries between concert and theater, using storytelling and music to bring to life the colorful history of the bold and singular women who wrote and popularized the blues. The voices of these women are vibrant, challenging, inspirational, and dynamic.

Concerts are from 6 - 8 p.m. A full bar and buffet menu is available for purchase starting at 5 p.m. when doors open for dinner and social hour. Tickets are $25 in advance and $30 at the door. VIP tickets are $100 and include preferred seating, Meet & Greet with artists, and a signed CD.

The next Regular Meeting of the Laguna Beach Unified School District Board of Education is Tuesday, March 12 at 6 p.m. at the LBUSD Office Board Room, located at 550 Blumont St, Laguna Beach.

Future scheduled meetings include: March 26 April 23 May 13

May 28

June 11

June 25

July 16

August 13

September 10

September 24

October 8

October 22

November 12

December 12 – Annual Organization Meeting

LBUSD provides full video streaming of its board meetings online. Public comments may be given for items both on and off the agenda by filling out a blue public comment form. Forms and form rules are made available at each meeting.